


A:TLA AU – Rumors About a Legend

by GoatBazaarofFics



Series: Through Space and Time [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:09:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12861342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoatBazaarofFics/pseuds/GoatBazaarofFics
Summary: In which Anders is a legendary firebender, and Fenris is looking for a new master.





	A:TLA AU – Rumors About a Legend

**Author's Note:**

> I edited this to just one shot and I'll post all feature oneshots in a collection

Legends says The Healer was touched by a spirit in an act of vengeance.

They say his lover had been cruelly cut down in front of him by a would-be tyrant, a woman known simply as Stannard. A phoenix heard The Healer’s aguish cries and came to him. The phoenix could not resurrect his lover, but promised retribution. The Healer reborn on the day of his lover’s death and killed all those who dared get in his way. The tyrant fell before her reign of evil could truly start. Now, many across the world flock to his secluded temple for healing. He never left his sanctuary

But it came at a price. The spirit made his black hair bled to red-gold. His fire was hotter than the sun, and his skin cracks and ashens if he bends too long. He became manifestation of the spirit, some say.

Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, can compare to The Healer’s bending. And if The Healer ever turned evil, it would take the Avatar to stop him.

Or, so says the legends. And by legends, Fenris had long learned that meant the storyteller, Varric Tethras.

The earth bender eyes the stairs wearily. He glances over his shoulder to his owl-hound, Yama, and wonders if he should fly there. Yama is grazing a few feet in front of him. The massive winded-animal feels her friend looking at her and she rolls onto her back, exposing her belly. She whines and clips her beak. He scoffs, but smiles affectionally at his longtime companion. He walks up to her and rubs her belly. She kicks her feet happily and he stands at an angle to avoid her front talons.

“You mind giving me lift?” he asks.

She stops wiggling and puffs out her brown feathers and fur, telling him yes, she does mind.

Fenris rolls his eyes at the pampered owl-hound. “See if I give you any more fish.” He stops the belly rubs and heads for the stairs. He adjusts the pack on his shoulder, the clank of his metal gauntlets making him flinch.

He hears a huff behind him and Yama follows close behind. She rests her beak on his shoulder as they walk. He reaches up and scratches her head. “What do you think this healer, Anders as Varric called him, is like?” She chirps in his ear, and he nods, understand her. “Yes, the story behind him sounds fantastical, but we have met stranger people. That insipid witch, Merrill, and her lover, Hawke, to name two.”

She chirps again, more fiercely. She likes Hawke and Merrill.

He slows slightly and walks by his friend’s side. He pokes her stomach, “you only liked the witch because she fed you treats, which made you plump. And Hawke, because despite all his faults, he’s an animal lover.”

She clicks this time, chastising him. The earth bender knows why she defends their friends from his words. Truthfully, he didn’t have a legitimate issue with his fellow earth bender or her thieving boyfriend.  They were both good people and helped him more than most have. They just annoy him with their antics. And Merrill’s insistence she knows more about spirits than him drives him up a wall.

Fenris shakes his head, not wanting to think of spirits or such things. His white hair falls in front of his eyes. He brushes the strands out of his view, catching sweat as he does so. He grimaces and brushes it off his dark leggings. “Why couldn’t this fool be of the Southern Water Tribe? We could be visiting Isabela or Sebastian.” he complains to the only being who understood him.

Yama huffs and chirps again. She hates the Fire Nation too. She was used to the tall forests near Omashu, not the humid islands.

They make the rest of the journey in silence, his question still on his mind. What was the healer like?

He knows what Varric told him. Anders is nice when he want’s to be, but mostly an asshole with a sense of humor. _“That’s why I like, Blondie. He’s funny as hell. You know, for a guy from the Fire Nation.”_

There is the pirate, Isabela. _“Hmmm, you going to see The Healer? He’s the hottest thing in the Fire Nation and he will make your nights hot too. Ask for his electricity trick. It’s to die for.”_ Fenris didn’t need to ask what she meant.

Sebastian, being the chief’s son meant he traveled and met with interesting people, told him Anders was a decent person. _“A bit frightening, but decent.”_

And Aveline, who spent her time chasing after Isabela for pirating, said, _“I like him. When he isn’t being a royal tit that is.”_

Then there are the rumors. Some say he’s the kindest, generous person they ever met. He would die for hundreds if he thought it was for the greater good. Some say he became a monster the day his lover died. That his kindness is a façade. A ruse, before he takes Stannard’s place and reign chaos upon the Fire Nation.

Fenris balls his hands into fists. He can’t make sense of the healer. Is he a vile monster who plots in the shadows? Is he a scorned lover whose thirst for vengeance was never settled? Or is he a young widower who morns his husband and gives himself freely?

A hand goes to his throat, feeling the scarred tattoos. If this Anders is as kind of people have told him, he doesn’t want his old masters, Danarius and Hadriana, anywhere near the healer. His greatest fear is Danarius finding him and hurting his friends like he had done in the past.

Yama bumps his head, dragging him out of his bad memories. He smiles, grateful for his companion’s presence.

He decides he will form his opinion when he meets Anders. They climb the rest of the stairs, only stopping to drink water. When they get to the top, a temple greats them. Despite being tainted by memories of Hadriana, Fenris adores Fire Nation architecture. The black pillars, the red roofs, the gold trims. The way the buildings are sharp and deadly, yet elegant and graceful.

This temple is no different and the stunning contrast highlights the rumors surrounding the healer.

He stalks up the polished steps and to the red doors. The knockers swing from the doors, naturally. He pounds on the left door loudly.

He takes a step back and waits, but thankfully for not too long. There are soft foot steps on the other side and the door swings open.

“Hello?” comes a honey voice.

Fenris takes in a sharp breath. Only Isabela warned him of the healer’s attractiveness, but even she underplayed it. The man is tall, very tall. He’s face is all angles, except for his amber eyes. They are round and soft and expressive. They make him feel warm as the healer scans over him. True to the stories Fenris heard, his hair is an unnational gold-red, much like the phoenix spirit who touched him. He matches his temple too, with his robes pitch black and accented with gold. And the robes did nothing to hide his physique. They were a tight fit and showed off his arms.

Fenris is suddenly interested in learning what Isabela meant by _electricity trick_. The healer’s good looks almost distract him from the feathers on the other’s shoulders. Almost.

“Spirit’s flaming balls, I am so sorry for my rudeness,” the healer breaks him from his thoughts. “My name is Anders and you are?” he holds out a hand.

He immediately takes it, “you may call me Fenris.”

Recognition sparks across his face. “You’re Fenris?” He eyes him again and his lips twitch upward, “a mutual friend mentioned you last time she was here. Isabela?”

“I hope she had only good stories to tell.”

The smirk broadens, “oh, trust me, they were all very good. Some kept me up _all_ night,” the man leans against the door, arms crossed. He’s worse than Isabela.

Fenris feels his cheeks heat up and he coughs to hide his laughter. “I see why Isabela considers you her best friend.”

“Pffft,” Anders waves his hand. “You want to meet her best friend, go to the mainland and look for an assassin by the name of Zevran,” he straightens and gestures, “come inside,” he pauses and points to Yama, “is he good with lizard-cats? Because if not, he can’t come in.”

The owl-hound huffs, feeling insulted. Fenris points over his shoulder, “she is well-behaved. Your pet, a Ser Pounce-a-lot I believe, isn’t in any danger.”

Anders claps his hands together. “Hawke told you about Pounce?” He pushes the other door for Yama and closes it when Fenris and the owl-hound enter. He leads them down a long hallway. Marble pillars, painted red, line up like solders. The temple is well lit, nothing like the dark halls of Hadriana’s home in the capital.

Before setting out to see the healer, Hawke had told Fenris a part of Anders’s past no one knows. Stannard locked him in solitary for a year when he was a young boy. Fenris was only told this because his first instinct to a threat is to allow the ground swallow that threat.

“I’m shocked we haven’t met before given we have the same friends. I must ask why you decided to visit me,” Anders asks as they walk. He glances at Fenris. “I don’t want to presume.”

Fenris guesses what he’s getting at. “These scars cannot be healed. I’ve been to the South Pole and seen their healer. She tried what she could, but I had them for too long.

“I am so sorry there’s nothing I could do to help,” Anders says with such heartfelt honesty, Fenris ducks his head. “But that still leads me to wonder why are you here.”

“I need a fire bending teacher,” he answers.

Anders comes to a complete stop. “Aren’t you from the Earth Kingdom?”

Fenris stops too. His jaw clenches. He kept his secret close for so many years, not even Hawke knew and he knew about the Fog Warriors. “I am.”

“But you need a fire bender teacher?”

“I do,” Yama nudges his shoulder and he turns to face her. He combs his fingers through her soft feathers, taking comfort in his old friend. He can’t bear to look at the healer as he told his story. “When I was child, my sister and I were practicing earth bending. Our mother over saw us. We throwing mudballs at each other,” he smiles at the memory, but he swallows it down. His tongue is dry, very dry, and he feels like he can’t speak. It takes him a moment to find his voice again. “She tossed one at me, not knowing there was a rock in it. I panicked and…froze it solid.” He admits.

Anders lets out the tiniest of gasps.

He continues, his eyes closed shut. Yama rubs his cheek with her beak, chirping softly. “My mother didn’t know what to do or who to tell first. But we were unware of a witness. A neighbor saw me freeze the water in the mud. He didn’t think what this meant for the world, but only profit. He kidnapped us and sold us to the highest bidder.”

“No- but you’re- you’re the…that _monster_ ,” the last word is said in vicious growl.  

Fenris bitterly laughs, “you believe he is the monster?” He turns to face the healer, his arms stretched out, showing off his scars. “The man he sold me to was a water bender. He wanted to know how I worked. What made me who I am,” he drops them. “Do you know water benders can bend blood during a full moon? He wanted me to be his weapon.”

The fire that erupts at Anders’s finger tips is expected. The smoke coming from his mouth and the gray cracks crawling up his arm? Wasn’t. When his rage causes the torches on the pillars to expand, Fenris tries to simmer the flames down.  “How dare they! This is outrageous! I cannot….” His words trail off and he takes several moments to control himself. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand how anyone could do this to another person, but to you. Of all people.”

He stares into the passionate amber orbs, so different from the icy blue he grew to hate. “Master _Danarius_ kept me a secret for nearly twenty years. The only people who know of me are my family, which I haven’t seen since I was child, and his close friends. He denied me of my duty to the world. It is time I fulfill my duty.” He drops to his knees and bows, “I need new masters to teach me the elements. I know earth and water, but not fire or wind. I ask if you could teach me the fire bending, Master.”

“First off,” Anders pulls him off the ground and back onto his feet. Fenris doesn’t understand. Isn’t he supposed to bow down to his new master? “First off,” he repeats, “you aren’t calling anyone master again. Second, you’re not going to bow either.”

The healer kneels on one knee, his head lowered. “It would be an honor to teach the Avatar.”


End file.
